Mohammed Daoud Khan was the royal Prime Minister from September 1953 until he resigned in March 1963 under the monarchy of King M. Zahir Shah (who reigned from 1933 to 1973). The Constitution that was in force during this period had been established in 1931 by King M. Nadir Shah (who reigned from 1929 to 1933). (Fundamental Principles of the Government of Afghanistan, 1931.p.2) This Constitution was in force until it was abrogated by the Constitution of 1964 of King M. Zahir Shah.

The Parliament of Afghanistan over the past years has had many problems. But this paper is dealing with the Parliament in the time that Daoud was Prime Minister and the Parliament during  the Presidency of Hamid Karzai, because of the similarities and differences with each other during these periods. There are some points in the Parliament of Daoud period which are useful for the future of the Afghan Parliament and there are other points in Daoud period that Afghan people should never experience again.

When M. Daoud engaged in his coup d’etat against King M. Zahir of Afghanistan in 1973, he canceling  the continuation of the Parliament. Therefore, from 1973 to 2005, there was no Parliament in Afghanistan. (Although Daoud’s Republican Constitution established a Melli Jirga in 1977 Constitution of the Republican State of Afghanistan, CA (1977),chapter 5, Articles 48–64). However, that Constitution was abrogated in 1979.)In 2001, the Bonn Agreement, created  by the United Nations and the representatives of the Afghan people, provided for the establishment of a Parliament. According to  the Bonn Agreement, in 2004, the Loya Jirga approved the new Constitution of Afghanistan, which established the new Parliament (Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2004, chapter 5,- articles 81–109); KaluKo-ey, 1385.p.138 a.h.)

Now, Afghanistan’s political system is an Islamic Republic country with a Parliament as its legislative power. In comparing the current system with the past systems, we can say that Afghanistan has a democratic atmosphere now. According  with the Constitution of 1931, people had the right to choose their representatives and to participate in elections. Now people also can do that. During the decade of Daoud, people could choose their representatives, but indeed the election system was not clear and it was a formality. Even though during Karzai, the Independent Elections Commission is trying to make a clear system for elections and does not allow candidates who cheated in the elections to go to the Parliament. This commission invalidated a lot of the votes of the presidential candidates in the presidential election of 2009 (http://www.afghanpaper.com/nbody.php?id=3429)

The history of Afghanistan shows that this country did not have a Parliament before King Amanullah Khan, after he understood that Afghanistan needed a Parliament as an important social and political entity, he decided to make it. (Fundamental Principles of the Government of Afghanistan, 1923.article 4)When he had looked to other countries, he observed that the legislative power has special significance for many nations because those countries had accepted and established this power in their legislative institutions.

King Amanullah Khan understood the significance of the Parliament because he was the first person who established it in Afghanistan. In fact, today Afghanistan is continuing (or renewing) a Parliament similar to the one in the time of Kin Amanullah. But today, the significance of the Parliament is different from the one begun under King Amanullah. Even during Daoud’s period as Prime Minister, the significance of the Parliament differed from King Amanullah’s. The significance of the Parliament has different corners and points —sometimes it is the political significance that is important in society and sometimes it is the economic significance of the Parliament. Indeed, when we can understand the significance of the Parliament then we will know the Parliament better. Therefore, for understanding the significance of the Parliament, we must first introduce the meaning of Parliament. Because without a definition of Parliament, we cannot understand the significance of Parliament.

For finding a definition for “parliament”, I first referred to the Quran. The Quran has a special definition for the Parliament. The Quran says: “Those who respond to their Lord, and establish Prayer, who (conduct) their affairs by mutual Consultation; who spend out of what we bestow on them for sustenance” (Qur’an, 2007. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, trans. Pp 342-343)

The term “parliament” also has two dictionary meanings. As a noun, “Parliament is the group of people who are elected to make and change the laws of a country.” It can also refer more generally to the meeting or session of the legislature: “A particular period of time during which a parliament is operating, between either holidays or election” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English,( 2001). p.1102.)

I think, however, that the aforementioned definition of Parliament is not complete. The following definition is mine and I think it is a more complete definition: “A parliament includes a group of people who are elected by the people to make and change laws, during a particular period of time in a country.”

The above mentioned definition shows that the parliament is a place for consulting and making law. In the 21st century, every country with a democratic system has a parliament. In each country, the parliament has special name. In the United Kingdom (U.K.), the word “Parliament” is used for the legislative power, while the United States and Mexico use the word “Congress” for their legislative power, and France uses the expression “National Assembly”.

Making law is one of the  most important jobs of the Parliament. Law making is not the only authority for this important organization, since it can intervene in other affairs and institutions of the State, such as economic, political, social, and international matters. When we connect the significance of the Parliament with economic and social affairs, it is understandable that at first, we should study the purpose for establishing the Parliament. We must understand the philosophy for the establishment of the Parliament. Why do philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and others always argued against the establishment of a parliament? Because they had trouble with the misuse of power by the rulers and kings. They had tried limiting the power of kings and rulers by using legal methods. The best method was establishment of a power alongside the other powers, which could  supervise and oversee the activities of the kings and rulers. They were looking for legal methods for limiting or expanding the powers of the rulers.

The Parliament is still new for the Afghan people. The people still need to know more about the Parliament because it has a lot of vague points that people do not know. Particularly, a majority of the Afghan people do not have sufficient information about the legislative power. They do not know the Parliament’s resource powers and they do not know how the Parliament’s power is established.  So how they can ensure their individual and plural welfare under the shadow of the legislative power (Parliament)?

Plato and Aristotle were some of the first philosophers that discussed rulers and the problems of states and power. But separation of powers was created through efforts made in the 18th century. Philosophers of the 18th century believed that centralization of political power is dangerous when all power is given to one person (or institution). Centralization of power can cause wide corruption, fear, waste, violations of rights, and cruelty (Wahid, 2010.p1)

Aristotle (384–322 b.c.e.) says: “Every government has three powers, The first of these three powers is a commission to discuss and consult about common problems. The second of these three powers is rulers and their characteristics and amount of their authorities and method of their choice. The third power is cour" (Madani, 2009. p.165).

Indeed the Parliament has to be made up of people who have a lot of authority.  They can counsel, consult, and discuss about everything. But who will serve in the Parliament? Does everyone have the right to go to the Parliament and present their consultations and viewpoints? If all people can go to Parliament, then it will be very hard to decide about problems and it will need a lot of time. It will also need a lot of expenditure. But in order to limit membership of all people in the Parliament, there must be a legal procedure.

Oversight authority by the members of the Parliament over the Government is one of the most important powers which the Parliament has. This oversight must be according by a legal procedure .The Parliament can control and supervise another institutions, it is necessary, the Parliament itself must first be acting appropriately under the law. It is not possible that each branch of the State within one country possess a special military force and they use their military for controlling the other branches. Parliament is one of the branches of the States that does not have military force directly, but it controls other branches by making law. The Parliament must not interfere in the specific duties of other branches, except when it has the right to do so according to the Constitution or laws. The Parliament itself also is control by a law, so that it does not intervene in everything.

The Parliament is an organization which includes many people who are called representatives. Of course, everyone has a right to  go to the Parliament as a representative, In reality everyone can not  go to the Parliament, because going to the Parliament needs qualifications. And also going to the Parliament needs a specific procedure such as  elections procedure for electing representatives of the Parliament. The number of representative  who can go to the Parliament is limited because the Parliament does not have enough capacity for all the people of a country.

The Houses of the Parliament are the next matter which have  some numbers and these members are called representatives of the houses (chambers) of the Parliament. For example the United States has two houses (Senate and House of Representatives) and the French Parliament has three houses. The Constitution of France, after Napoleon’s coup, ratified the following houses.

1– Meeting government council (Conseild’Etat).

3– Legislative panel (Corps Legislative).

4– Senate Meeting (Senat Conservatur)

(Madani, 1370, p. 165).

The Parliament of Afghanistan has chosen as a bicameral system. Now, the National Assembly (Parliament) has two Houses. The two houses do not have the same power and the same authority. One of them has more authority than the other. One of the purposes of this study also is recognition of the authorities of the Houses of the National Assembly of Afghanistan and their significance.

1.1. Statement of the Research Problem

What are the main characteristics   of the Parliament of the premiership of Daoud in comparison with the Parliament during the administration of President Karzai?

What were the main characteristics of Daoud 's parliament?  What are the main characteristics of President Karzai?  What were their similarities? What were their differences? What were the good and bad characteristics of Daoud 's Parliament?   What are the good and bad characteristics of Karzai 's Parliament?

All above  cited questions  are important. This study will answer all these questions  and will be a source for those who interested in  studying  the parliaments of  Afghanistan. During past years, the Parliament of Afghanistan was forgotten by scholars in the rest of the world and especially by scholars in Afghanistan. When I began to think about my country’s Parliament, I found that few scholars have written articles about the Afghan Parliament. This study can prepare the information about the background of the Parliament, which can be useful for the Afghan people and other who are interested in this subject. The Afghan people can learn from the experiences, and the errors.

1.2. Background

Parliament, or legislative power, is not a new phenomenon in Afghanistan. However, it does not have long history in this country . It has less than 90 years of history in Afghanistan. Today, the Afghan people have expectations from the Parliament as a high legal institutions that can resolve their economic, social, and political problems. It is a logical expectation that the Afghan people have. In the past, however, the Parliament was not able to resolve the problems of the Afghan people because the representatives in the Parliament did not have sufficient knowledge needed to do so. When King Amanullah Khan established Afghanistan’s Parliament in 1923, half of its members were elected, but they did not have independence (Naderi, 2009.Para.74).

Afghanistan’s Parliament faced grave challenges after King Amanullah Khan. It was like an organization that the Government had chosen its members and they were  implemented the Government’s politics. Afghanistan’s Parliament after King Amanullah Khan was a democratic entity with an ethnic identity, under the control of the Government (Hakimi, 2009. Accessible online).

For 40 years, Afghanistan’s Parliament was a symbolic organization that only attempted to reinforce the Government and the monarchy system. All members of the Parliament were selected  by the Government in the capital and provinces because the Afghan people did not have any liberty and authority to elect their representatives for themselves. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament were selected by the King.  All the subjects of legislation that were ratified in the Parliament were done according to the Government’s requests. A majority of the members of the National Assembly were blue-blood,  overlords, and aldermen who were not literate (Sabiri Heravy, 2009.P.9).

The Parliament of Afghanistan had a bad situation until 1957–1958. The representatives in the Parliament did not have independent authority. The meeting place of the Parliament was in Salam Khana of the royal castle where the King was living . Mr. M. Daoud, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, was the first person to change the meeting place of the Parliament from Salam Khanaat of  the castle to Darul-Aman the Trade Center of the Ministry of Commerce. Daoud Khan wanted the Parliament to be independent for making decisions that would be useful for the Afghan people, because all the decisions of the Parliament before were not useful for the Afghan people. (Sabiri, 2009 p.13).

In Afghanistan, Daoud held two positions. The first position was as a Prime Minister for 10 years under the monarchy of King Mohammad Zahir (reigned 1933–1973). He resigned from the position of Prime Minister in 1963 (Ewans, 2002. p.118).

His second position was as President of Afghanistan. When he became President of Afghanistan, by coup d’etat against King Mohammad Zahir, he revoked the monarchy system, dissolved the Afghan Parliament, and suspended the Constitution of 1343 (1964). Once the coup became successful, Daoud assumed the offices of President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Minister of Defense, and a Central Committee, composed mainly of army officers, was briefly formed ( Samimi, 2009      Accessible Online).

After the coup of Daoud Khan against King Mohammad Zahir, Daoud established a committee, then transferred the authorities held by the former Parliament to the new committee, and transferred the authorities of the King to the President (Mohammad Daoud). He convened a Loya Jirga in 1977 which approved a new Constitution and elected him as President for a 6-year term. The new Constitution provided for a unicameral legislature (Meli Jirga) and a one-party state, with the Loya Jirga as the ‘supreme manifestation of the power and will of the people.’ (Ewans, 2002, p. 118).

The new Constitution of the Republican State of Afghanistan (1977) contained a strong attitude of socialist and revolutionary rhetoric, and called for ‘economic and social reform’, ‘the elimination of exploitation’, land reform, and nationalization. In practice, however, it did more than formalize what was already in existence – an extremely autocratic, centralized, and repressive regime, which drew its strength from the armed forces and the bureaucracy. (Constitution of Afghanistan, 1977,articels.1- 12).

This paper will debate about the first position of Mohammad Daoud because when he was Prime Minister, Afghanistan had a Parliament. Comparison of the Parliaments during the time of Mohammad Daoud and the time of President Karzai is the purpose of this paper. The Parliament during Daoud was going toward a democratic practice, which is one of reasons for comparing it with the current period.

M. Daoud believed that the Parliament manifested a democratic foundation in Afghanistan because all representatives in the Parliament were elected by people. The Parliament consisted of two houses: Aian (Senate) and National Assembly (or Council). The National Assembly ratified laws, constituted commissions, and approved the budget of the Government. The Parliament helped the Government to resolve economic and social problems. The Senate merely approved all the documents it received from the National Assembly. Both houses were not very important to the Afghan people because the Parliament did not have an important role in the country at that time. The Government could dictate all its decisions to Parliament and the representatives were not able to oppose them (Heravi, 2009,p.165).

The 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th periods of the National Assembly were concurrent with the prime ministry of Mohammad Daoud from 1953 to 1963. In these periods of the Parliament, ‘some laws, agreements, and contracts’ were approved and signed. These periods of the Parliament are not so well known among the Afghan people because the Parliament could not represent the will of the people. It was like earlier times of Nadir Khan, in which the Parliament only considered and approved the decisions of the Government, and particularly the decisions of King Mohammad Zahir. (Naderi, 2009,para.74).

In 1952, a National Club started its activities under the presidency of Sardar Mohammad Daoud, the cousin of King Mohammad Zahir, the budget of this club was prepared by Mr. Majeed Zabuli, the Minister of Economy. Members of this club opposed the Government and included all levels of society’s residents, like military, police officers, lawyers , religious and national minorities’ representatives, and religious fundamentalists. The aims of the members of this club were to debilitate the Government of Shah Mahmood Khan, the Prime Minister, to reach the position by Sardar Daoud Khan.

Sardar Mohammad Daoud decided to dissolve the Government during the election of the 8th term in the year 1952. The Government of Shah Mahmood Khan tried to confuse the political situation by using different methods and tools during the elections of the 8th term, so that none of the candidates related to the opposition could win as representatives.

After the election of the 8th term in 1952, for the first time in the history of Afghanistan, members of the political parties demonstrated against the Government in Kabul. The demonstration was a very new action against the Government. The Government called this demonstration a Nation Audacity (national threat) broke the lines of the demonstrators by force, abrogated the media’s freedom, deterred broadcasting and publication of national newspapers, the leaders of the political and opposition parties were sent to jail. (The parliament of Afghanistan , 2008,p.16)